Pinky Promise
by Dory Grace
Summary: AH AU OOC - A naive, trying-to-be-a-rebel Bella is living a whirlwind life in Forks. Bad boy-ish newcomer Jasper Whitlock comes to the rescue. True love or an unhealthy obsession?
1. Reflecting

**D****isclaimer: I don't own anything.**

Chapter 1 - Reflecting

Two faces making faces at the camera. A man and a little girl, a smile gracing both of their faces – bright-eyed and carefree, radiating happiness.

_Me and Daddy _

My dad, Charlie, and I used to have the closest bond a father and his daughter were capable of having. I remember standing on top of his feet and learning how to dance – not that it helped, I'm not exactly the most graceful person in the world. But I enjoyed those dances nonetheless.

My mother was a slightly different case. I loved her equally, of course, she was my mom, she cared for me, loved me and kissed me goodnight, but she wasn't always there. She acted like I was supposed to act when I was a six year old. Always out, didn't have a job and wasn't able to look after her own family. But I loved her and Daddy was there, so I was more than glad with the life I lived.

But my fog of blissful happiness faded over the years, and eventually disappeared.

Almost every member of my family gave me some money on my seventh birthday so I could study when I'd be older.

Two days later all the money mysteriously disappeared.

Dad had stolen the money, my mom told me when I was eleven.

_Where did he need it for_?

I'll tell you when you're older wherefore, Bella, she answered the unspoken question.

_You have a lot to tell me when I'm older, Mom_.

And she did. She always told me she'd explain everything when I'd be older. But I'm seventeen now, and although I know a lot more than I did back then, I want to know every little detail.

Not a week later not only the money, but Daddy also had disappeared. I cried and cried and sobbed and sobbed. Why did he leave? I can't blame myself for not understanding the situation back then. I was seven – just a little girl. But I knew he was coming back. He always would, he promised.

I stubbornly believed no one in a lifetime would ever, ever, _ever_, break a pinky promise.

And Dad did return, baggy-eyed, awfully pale, clothes crumpled and carrying a stench impossible to forget. He didn't hug me anymore – or Mom, for that matter. He snapped at me for the most unreasonable little things – tripping over stuff, coming home too late while I wasn't late at all… I didn't like the new Daddy and slowly but surely, Daddy became Charlie.

Soon Charlie wasn't the only one snarling, Mom was too.

"_I needed that money, Charlie!" _

"_Yeah, right! Where do you want to spend it on? Perfume, jewellery?" _

"_Shut the fuck up! I needed that money for food –"_

"_You never cared, Renee. Why do you now?" _

_Silence_.

It was beginning to become a daily routine – waking up, school, coming home, screaming and eating somewhere in between.

Charlie always left me alone. He just snapped and yelled at me when I did something wrong. But there were these times Charlie was Daddy again. Sweet, gentle and reading _Alice in Wonderland, __The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn _and _A Series of Unfortunate Events _for me. I liked listening to his voice, even though it was a lot more hoarse than it was before his mysterious disappearance.

I'd always forgive him for snapping and yelling, even when he didn't apologize.

Maybe I shouldn't have.

The time my eighth birthday approached, everything became a bit too much for Mom. I'll always remember that day. A lot of screaming, of course, and I heard the green-and-orange-and-blue-and-yellow-and-purple vase I made for Daddy and Mom when I was six break into a thousand of teeny-tiny pieces.

I didn't know it was my vase falling at the time, of course.

"_That's it!" a voice screeched furiously, "I'm leaving! And I'm taking Bella with me!" _

Goodbye, beautiful, sunny Phoenix and hello, rainy, depressing Forks.

I dreaded moving. Mom thought nothing about it, but all my friends lived in Phoenix, Arizona. I promised to keep in contact with them, but long, extended conversations on the phone turned into awkward silences and no two years later those friends were faded memories.

Never in a million years I expected my mom to move to a place like Forks. Mom loved the sun and its warmth, just like I did. But apparently there was this centre for single mothers and their children there that could help us out. We had no money, no home and no one who could help us out.

_But why Forks, Mom? It's awful –_

Apparently Forks was a place Charlie would never find us. That was true, I gave her that, but why _Forks_? There were thousands of little towns, why Forks? It was awful, rainy, ugly and green.

Mom got herself a job as a secretary so she could find us a place of our own. The house she bought us was small and a scowl covered my face just looking at it, just like a scowl covered my face every time I thought about something related to Forks.

That included Mom's boss, a man named Phil Dwyer, ten years younger than she was and possessing a language that could make a sailor blush.

I hated waking up, walking into the living room and seeing my mom and some strange, unknown man cuddling up on the couch. I scowled at the pretty picture they made together. Him in his yellow boxers and her wearing nothing but a robe.

It was disgusting.

But I did eventually warm up on Phil a bit and living with him wasn't too bad. I just couldn't understand how easily Mum replaced Charlie. She'd been with him since she was eighteen and here she was, five months after leaving her husband hugging and kissing with him like they knew each other for years.

"_How would you feel about calling Phil 'daddy', sweetie?" _

No way. I would never call Phil _that_. Who did she think she was? I would never call anyone 'daddy' in my life. Especially not after _that _day.

We got a letter that day – Tuesday, August 14, to be precise – and I knew Mom shouldn't have opened it only by seeing the ugly red stamp that was glaring at me. But unfortunately Mom did open it. I watched as her eyes roamed over the letter, her eyes watering and finally rolling down her cheeks in the form of tears.

"_Oh, sweetheart," she sobbed, "Charlie is dead." _

"_I'm sorry, Mom," I said quietly, my voice pitying, "I knew Uncle Charles was really important to you." I never really got to know my uncle and his wife Makenna myself. They were there at family party's, but –_

"_No – oh, God – sweetie, Bella," and it was _her _voice that was full of compassion this time. "I mean Charlie, your father."_

_And with that I flew to my room, jumping on my bed and crying and screaming in my pillow. _

_Mom never knew I cried. _

Charlie had thrown himself in front of a train.

Drugs does that to you, Mom told Phil and me as we reflected.

_Drugs? _As soon as the words escaped my mother's lips she knew she was wrong. Her face twisted into an ugly grimace and her eyes flickered from Phil, who was sharing her horrified expression, to me.

I was thirteen when I had my first joint. My neighbor Jane, a small girl with pale brown hair who was the very first to welcome me in my new neighborhood, somehow got in possession of drugs.

"_I don't know, Jane,"__ I mumbled anxiously. "How did you get them?"_

_She smiled deviously, "You know my mom's friend Chelsea, right?" I did. Chelsea was one of the most beautiful women I'd ever seen. She worked as a prostitute in Seattle and was Jane's mom's best friend, even though Chelsea was roughly twenty years younger. I shouldn't be surprised Jane got them from her – Chelsea was a wild one. "These were in her purse." _

Drugs does that to you_, my mom's words repeated themselves in my head. I shouldn't do it, but Jane was one of the nicest girls I'd bumped into here and she was really cool. _

"_I really don't know – this is illegal, you know?" _

"_Aren't you sick of be__ing the good girl all the time?" _

_I think that did it. I stupidly nodded my head as she handed me a the joint. I should've shoved it back at her, but I didn't. She watched me, inhaling herself as she put the stick between her lips, and I took a small drag. I coughed a bit at the foreign feeling. _

"_Make sure you really inhale," Jane told me. _

Sorry, Jane, but I'd rather not cough my brains out,_ but I did as she said and put the joint loosely between my lips. I took a deep breath and I swear I felt it going down my lungs. I coughed again, harder this time, gasping for air. Why did I ever agree on this? I tried again, taking a very small drag and really holding the smoke down for a few seconds, before exhaling. _

_I didn't really feel the thrill Jane seemed to feel, but a second one soon followed and I was rolling over the floor with her. Laughing hysterically about how Jane's socks looked like the rainbow and how pretty the colors of the rainbow actually were, then laughing about the fact that we were laughing about something like rainbows, then laughing because we couldn't remember what we were laughing about and then laughing because we forgot what we were laughing about._

Jane had an older sister, Heidi, who proved to be a much better friend, but that didn't mean Jane was out of my life for good. There'd happened too much between me and Jane to pretend we were friends and act like nothing ever happened. Jane also had a twin brother, Alec, who mostly kept quiet. I liked Alec – he lets you scream and throw with stuff, but doesn't ask if there's something wrong.

Heidi was only a year older than I was, but I'd always looked up to the pretty brunette. There was a period in my life I considered her my best friend, before I went to High School. She introduced me to her friends, Irina, who was even more fucked up than Jane was, sleeping with so much guys she stopped counting at twenty, Aro, Caius, Marcus, Demetri, Felix, Charlotte and Peter, all of them much older than I was and so unbelievably cool. Aro immediately took the role of big brother, saying I was 'cute' and would really fit in with them.

God, I was a fool.

_There was fire everywhere. My heart was__ racing and beads of sweat were seeping over my forehead. Everybody was laughing and nobody seemed to be scared of the vicious orange flames that were taking over the place. I looked back at Aro, but he, just like everybody else, had this lazy, serene smile on his face and didn't seem to think much of the terror. _

"_Aro?" I tugged at his shirt to get his full attention._

_His grey-blue eyes found mine, "Yeah, Bella?" _

"_Why's nobody scared of the fire?" I asked, distress coloring my voice. Really, I was frightened and I didn't know what was going on. I knew they'd used cocaine and other drugs. I'd known them long enough to know that, but this was going too far. _

"_There isn't going to happen anything. Everything's planned out," he replied with a playful little tug at my hair. _

"_For what?" I asked curiously, but his steely look was enough to shut me up. He put the joint that was safely tucked between his fingers in his mouth and a content smile covered his face. He closed his eyes, looking unbelievably careless for someone so troubled. One eye opened idly once he realized I was still looking at him. _

"_You have nothing to worry about," he grinned, putting an arm around my shoulder. "Want one?" _

_Without breaking eye contact I slowly shook my head. _

"_Aro, I got it," a voice broke our gaze. I looked up to see Caius, Aro's half brother, walking towards us with a very satisfied expression on his face. _

_Aro smiled, looking very pleased, and without so much as a goodbye, left, flanked by Caius, leaving me alone. The panic from before returned as I looked around me. Not that I could see much – the air was thick with smoke from the fire and the cigarettes and the pot everybody was smoking. I was almost scared to breathe, because every time I did everything became fuzzy and the people around me turned into blurred silhouettes. _

_I looked around again, feeling uncomfortable. Everybody was so much older. I knew most of them – I saw Irina, a bright green bottle in her hands, sitting on some boy's lap, and Marcus, observing just like me, but, very much unlike me, he looked like he belonged here and knew what he was doing. I saw Peter too, his arm around Charlotte's shoulders, laughing with some of his friends. _

God, what am I doing here? _I peeped at my watch, realizing how much time had passed since Aro left with his brother… _

_He wasn't coming back. _

I'd been so scared that day. I'd always liked hanging out with Aro and his cool friends, but they weren't themselves at times like that.

_Did they _ever _act like themselves then? _

The sibling-like relationship I shared with Aro blurred. The stupid thing was that he didn't seem to realize he'd seriously hurt me that day by not coming back. He still acted like he did before, with his 'hey, Bells', because he knew he was the only one who was allowed to call me Bells. Daddy – Daddy, not Charlie – always used to call me Bells. And although I did tell Aro not to call me that, he was the only one to continue.

I still see Aro, Heidi, Irina and their little group once in, oh, two weeks.

When I was fourteen I started High School and I realized how small my world had been. There was so much more than Aro, Heidi, and their group. You don't have to smoke, drink and go to third base to gain friends, I learned from Rosalie.

Rosalie Hale and I hated each other at first sight. I thought she was a manipulating, attention-seeking bitch and she thought I was stupid, good-for-nothing wanna-be her. I never believed in the aspect 'hate on first sight', but once I saw the tall, blonde-haired girl on my first day at Forks High School, I got the urge to scream at her and childishly pull her hair.

That was until we got to know each other. I remember that day very clearly – I went for a walk through the woods. Really, as much as I hate Forks, I can't deny the woods are very picturesque and rich. It's just too bad there isn't a sun to embellish the massive branches and colorful leaves. There was this huge tree with a human-sized hollow in it. I liked to just sit there and think about life in general. About Daddy – about Charlie – and Mom and later boyfriends, friends and school.

Seriously, how could I ever known that was Rosalie's secret place too?

She was sitting there, cross-legged, her hair in a messy ponytail, and writing in what looked like a journal. As soon as she heard the leaves crunch from my footsteps, she looked up.

Never, _ever _I have been in such an awkward situation.

And after a few acid 'what the _hell_ are you doing here's and 'did you actually _follow_ me?'s there was a silence. I don't really know what happened, but at a point we just talked. She told me she had been coming to the hollow of the tree since she was four and the rest of the conversation just followed. She told me everything about her life. That she hated that according to her parents she could never do something right – her grades weren't high enough, she didn't sport enough, she should do something with her life…

And the words just poured out. I told her everything. Stupid, actually. My mom tried several therapists, but none of them seemed to understand. But a therapist was for the best, my mom insisted. The therapist isn't someone close to me, so that person can't judge and would understand better. But Rosalie was a lot more helpful. We cried that day – and we saw each other at our worst.

And that's how Rosalie Hale became my best friend.

**AN: ****My very first chapter on FanFiction! Please review! **

**Dory **


	2. Everyday Life

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything **

Chapter 2 – Everyday Life

"And your homework for tomorrow…"

The yawn that escaped my mouth couldn't be stopped. My eyes wandered around the classroom and the question that popped into my head daily repeated itself once again. _Why does school have to be so damn boring? _Tanya, the strawberry blonde girl next to me, was sitting in a similar position as me, cheek resting on her palm, but the gum she was chewing completed the image certainly.

_Oh, Mr Varner, you're so boring. In your class, I couldn't stop snoring. Just stop with your stupid class, I really don't give an ass, you should just let me pass. You should just get fired soon, cause you're such a babooooooooooon. You make me go all angsty_…

Hm, what rhymes with angsty?

The loud, screeching sound of the bell interrupted my daydreaming. Walking out of the class, I smiled in satisfaction when I saw Varner with an annoyed expression on his face. Emmett had 'accidently' bumped into him.

"Hey there, Bella," he greeted, throwing an arm over my shoulders and flashing me a dimpled smile. "Didn't you just love that interesting lesson Trigonometry?"

I chuckled a bit, "Oh, yes, Trig's definitely my favorite subject from now on."

"Well, gotta go to Gym. See you at Lunch, okay?"

Humming an agreement I waved him goodbye. Emmett was Rose's on and off boyfriend. At the moment on, but it wasn't that hard to predict Rose would be in tears two weeks later. Emmett was one of the popular guys in my year. He was also the first one to discover I was the girl hanging out with Aro and his sort-of-criminal group. Imagine how surprised I was, seeing the burly, curly-haired classmate I never really paid attention to, standing there casually talking with Peter. Of course, we all knew each other at Forks High, but with some people you're just closer than the rest.

Emmett had a best friend, Edward Masen – they were also cousins. I sat next to him in Biology and he was a pretty fun guy to hang out with, I guess. He was the boy that just always was _there_. I'd never had a private conversation with him outside the innocent flirting at school. He didn't really inspire warm, giddy feelings in me, but nobody could deny Edward was a nice sight to see.

Spanish was a blur and the teacher reminded me several times to pay attention. What can I say? I didn't really get sleep the night before, mainly thanks to Felix who'd called the night before, complaining about whatever his problems were. Sometimes he sounded like some preppy, melodramatic sixteen year old girl. I grinned slightly at the thought of big, brawny Felix laying on his bed, gossiping on the phone, swinging his legs to-and-fro and wearing pink pyjamas.

"Bella!"

Rose wrapped her arms around me the moment I entered the not-so-crowded cafeteria. A rare, bright smile was making her face ten times more beautiful than it already was.

"I have news," she informed me on our way to our usual table, the smile never leaving her face. Was it just me or did some students really _turn their heads _because of that smile? "I told you about my cousin Jasper, right?"

I nodded, remembering her long, extended stories about her cousin Jasper. Rose told me they used to have great bond, more like that of siblings than cousins. He moved to Texas years ago, before I even moved to Forks.

"He's coming to Forks, permanently."

"Wow, Rose, that's great!" I told her genuinely. Anyone who made that smile appear on her face was certainly on my good side. I won't deny it, Rose acted like a frosty bitch most of the time, but once you broke through her walls (very, very, _very_, thick, massive, solid walls), she was the most loyal girl you would ever know.

Tanya, Edward, Emmett and Kate greeted us not very cheerful as we arrived at our table – I couldn't blame them. The semi-dark clouds that hovered above Forks and the endless rain they were causing was becoming a bit depressing.

"You're all going to Maria's Friday?" Tanya asked, inspecting her nails.

I looked at Rose, who was looking at me – it was easy like that. If she wasn't going I wasn't going either.

"Yeah," I answered for both of us, "Carlisle's probably coming too."

Carlisle had been my very first friend in Forks. He was a bit shy, but once you warmed up on him he was a great guy and I was kind of happy to have a friend like Carlisle among the loud, outgoing friends I mostly hung out with.

"And are you down town friends coming too?" Kate asked interested.

_That_ was a stupid question.

"Eh, I don't think so."

My 'down town friends' had much better things to do than hanging out at a place like Maria's.

"Hello, people!" a chirpy voice saluted us.

Of course, the only person who could be happy on a mopish day like this was a small, black-haired little girl by the name of Alice Brandon. People believed Alice was one of those people that seemed to make the world a much happier place. Loving the fact that she's alive, breathing and well and enjoying every minute of it.

Me, sharing quite a close bond with her, knew Alice a lot better than that. Mom always told me that behind a person like Alice there was a real person, shivering in the cold and yearning for some warmth. I wished I could give her that warmth, but I wasn't really sitting among the happy group of people gathered around the warm fire either.

"Talking about the party? Everyone's talking about it," she sighed dramatically as she occupied the no-longer-empty chair next to me. "Let's be original and talk about something else!"

Nobody really took the effort anymore to raise an eyebrow or give a strange look at Alice's oddness.

"My cousin's coming back to Forks," Rosalie offered, giving everybody new gossip to talk about.

"Ooooooh!" Tanya piped up, finally looking up from her manicured nails, "You mean, Jasper's coming back?"

Rose gave her a raised eyebrow, as if to say, _no, my other cousin who used to live here, but we locked him up in the cellar so nobody could ever communicate with him. Now, shut the fuck up and act like you actually _do _have some brains in that hollow thing you dare to call a head. _That was enough to silence Tanya. I couldn't really blame her – Rose's trademark glare looked like it was able to kill.

Edward and Emmett, who both had been talking about… manly stuff, finally decided the conversation had turned tasty enough for them to join.

"I remember Jasper. He's a cool guy," Edward said thoughtfully.

"You haven't seen him in ten years and you still know he's a cool guy?" I asked him, slight disbelief coloring my tone.

He scowled, but that transformed in a small grin once he saw the look on my face.

"He moved to Texas back then, right?" Kate said mischievously, biting her lip, "Hm, I don't mind riding –"

"That's my cousin you're talking about," Rose cut her off abruptly.

Kate didn't come up with a good comeback.

"So, Bella, don't you have better things to do than going to a party like Maria's?" Edward asked me, sliding an arm over the back my chair.

I smiled playfully, "Of course I have. A friend of Aro's throwing a big party somewhere in Seattle Friday. But everyone needs a change once in a while, right? Don't you actually have something better to do Friday?"

"I do, but I have to keep the people around here happy," he answered, flashing me a crooked smile.

I raised an eyebrow, "And you think you're keeping everybody happy with your presence only?"

His growing smirk told me enough.

"Aren't you a little bit cocky?"

"Little bit?" Emmett snorted, "If his head gets any bigger he won't be able to walk anymore."

"Let's go to Biology already," Edward said, playfully scowling at Emmett, grabbing my hand and helping me stand up, "It's pretty obvious we aren't wanted here."

"You aren't wanted, Edward. I am," I teased with a grin, but rising up from my chair nevertheless. I was kind of happy to go, really. Edward was plenty of fun to sit next to in class, when my real friends weren't available. He was good-looking and always cracked hilarious jokes at the expense of half the class. "Maybe if you tried to be more likable, you'd be wanted."

"I'm likable _and _wanted enough already, Isabella," he replied mock gravely.

I glared at him. _Don't. Call. Me. Isabella_.

"Ouch, I never knew your glare could be so cold, Bella."

"I never had to use it against you, Edward. Too bad, you were the only person who'd never met The Glare of Doom before, besides Alice of course. Now you're just like everyone else."

"I'll never be like everyone else," Edward said complacently.

"Hm, I guess _that's _true," I agreed, making it sound like it was a bad thing.

"You always want to have the last word, don't you?"

"Of course."

**AN: Yeah, Bella and Edward **_**are **_**kind of very OCC, aren't they? But I like them like this. **

**Tell me what you think! **


	3. Cats and Dogs

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything **

Chapter 3 – Cats and Dogs

"There she is!" Demetri's voice greeted me as I entered Aro's garage.

I ignored him, walking to the fridge and looking for a soda I couldn't find. As soon as I looked around I knew something was missing.

"Where's everyone?" I asked Peter, who was looking under the hood of a _gorgeous _'69 Jaguar.

"Dunno," he shrugged, rubbing his neck, "Out – come look for a minute."

I did as he said, looking under the hood. _Ouch_. This car was seriously perfect. Long bonnet, curvaceous fenders, large, round headlights, pouting mouth… Where the fuck did he get a beauty like this?

"What's wrong with it?" I asked him curiously, admiring the 4.2L 6-cylinder engine.

He ran a hand through his blond hair and sighed, "That's it. I don't know. Everything seems alright, but the driver said something's wrong with it – said he heard something and missed the fantastic 'purr' or some shit, but I'm not seeing anything."

"No broken engine strap? Or a loose timing belt? How did he describe the noise?"

I felt Demetri's arms wrap around my waist. I sighed contently, snuggling into his warmth.

"I don't know, man," he said, his head resting on my shoulder, "Nothing with the fan belt either?"

"All checked," Peter answered both our questions, "And the fucker didn't describe a thing."

Loud noises interrupted our conversation. Looking up, I saw Felix, Irina and Charlotte boisterously entering our beloved, but crappy, garage. A smile covered Felix face as soon as he saw us.

"Damn, don't you just look hot standing next to a car like that?"

"No compliments for today, Kitty," I warned him with a glare, "I had the shittiest day thanks to you."

"You're welcome," he grinned, not even bothering anymore to tell me to stop calling him 'Kitty'. I knew he hated it when I called him that, but then again, who in the world calls their kid Felix after the invention of Felix the Cat?

"So, what's new?" Charlotte asked as she placed herself in between Peter's legs and successfully turned his attention away from the Jaguar problem.

"Eh, well, Rosalie's cousin's coming back to Forks," I announced.

"What are you still doing with people like that, Bella?" Irina asked, lighting up a cigarette. "Want one?"

"They're my friends," I mumbled, taking the cigarette. No smoking at school but with friends like these it's alright. Kind of two-faced, right? "Especially Rose and you guys know that."

Aro and his group didn't like my friends at school, especially people Rose and Edward. Stuck up snobs, if you asked them. They didn't even take the time to get to know them. Thinking about it, people like Rose and Edward wouldn't take time to get to know _them _either. They'd seen each other a few times, but the only thing they'd exchanged were nasty glares and overly polite words. I didn't like them together, actually – I liked my friends alive, thank you very much.

That's why I kept School Friends and Aro Friends parted, to prevent big fights. I shuddered at the idea alone. Aro was a popular fellow in Forks and had a lot of friends. Felix just being one of them.

"But you were saying?" Charlotte coughed, "New meat?"

"Yeah," I muttered, giving her a grateful smile. _Thank God_, "Jasper Whitlock."

Demetri snorted. I looked up curiously, seeing him looking down at me with a shit eating grin on his face. "Jasper? Then we have a cat and a dog. Isn't that nice?"

My giggle turned into full blown laughter after seeing the 'ha ha'-scowl on Felix's face.

"Yeah, ha _ha_, laugh at the guy with the name. You're just jealous," he said woefully, walking to the fridge, just like I'd done earlier.

"Yeah, we're very jealous," Charlotte said earnestly.

I hummed an agreement, "We'd love to be named Mickey, Donald, Bugs or maybe Woody Woodpecker."

Everyone sniggered once again. I loved times like this – nothing serious, just fooling around. It was even better than hanging out with friends from school. Probably because the garage was definitely my place to be. I'd been coming here since I was younger, before and after the fire.

I snuggled a bit deeper into Demetri. _Daaaamn_, almost forgot how delicious he smelled. Very Demetri-y.

"Why aren't there any goodies in here?" Felix murmured, ignoring us.

"You know all the good stuff's in the kitchen," Peter reminded him.

Felix groaned, "I don't want to go all the way to the kitchen. It's too _far_."

I rolled my eyes at his silliness, "Whatever. C'mon, let's look at the car."

"No, no cars now," Irina sighed, tossing herself into the worn-out couch at the back of the garage, cigarette still in hand, "Just relax, okay?"

"Awh, didn't get any today?" Felix teased, sitting down next to her and looping an arm around her shoulders. He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively, "I can change that for you."

"_Eeew_! No way, Felix," she shrilled, promptly shoving his arm off. Apparently Felix was getting old, I thought with a smile. She stood up, smoothing the imaginary wrinkles from the tight-fitting grey shirt she was wearing, "C'mon, I'm going. Girls, you're coming with me?"

"Yeah," I replied, giving Demetri a peck on the cheek and grabbing my leather jacket. It was Felix's originally, years ago. He lent it to me when I'd forgotten my own jacket and somehow, don't ask me how, it became mine. It was still far too big for me – I looked like a fucking midget in it, but I had a bond with that jacket. It was comfortingly warm and living in a cold town like Forks…

Charlotte nodded, grabbing her fake Goyard purse. She gave Peter one last kiss – not that you could call it a kiss. They were practically sucking each other's faces of. Nothing we weren't used to by now. "Let's go."

"See you, guys!"

"_Ugh_," Irina moaned as we walked over Forks' deserted streets, "My day was horrible. Really absolutely horrible… and Felix only makes it worse with his stupid, childish jokes. _God_, grow up already!"

"Felix isn't that bad, 'Rina," Charlotte stood up for our burly friend, "He just… didn't grew up yet."

"Yeah, whatever, you were talking about Hale's cousin earlier. Finally something new for your uptown friends, huh? Bet they don't get that a lot – new stuff, I mean," Irina said, abhorrence coloring her tone as she talked about my 'uptown friends'.

"They aren't that bad," I protested reasonably.

They both – yes, Charlotte too – raised an eyebrow.

"Conceited, arrogant brats. That's what they are," Irina sneered, "I hope Hale's cousin's better than her. Probably not though. That family's filthy rich. The stupid thing's that it's all old money."

There was an undertone in her voice and I knew what it was. Jealousy. Irina's family wasn't rich. At all. It surprised me she actually had a place to sleep every night – Oh, wait, never mind. Her father was a druggie and her mother died when Irina was twelve. Friends didn't even gave money anymore to Irina and her dad. They wouldn't spend it on victuals anyway.

That's what we all had in common. Me, Irina, Aro and the rest. An awful past and one messed up family.

_Not everything's old money. Mr and Mrs Hale both have great jobs_, I wanted to say, but wisely kept my mouth shut.

"We can't judge the Whitlock kid already," Charlotte said rationally, "And who knows? Maybe he'll surprise us. And the uptown people will scare him off anyway. With their fucking bragging, I mean."

"He's probably one of them himself," Irina said decidedly.

"Whatever, guys. Can we just wait 'till he comes?"

Otherwise everyone in Forks was going to scare him off. I knew I hated it when everybody was so overly interested in me and my mom when we moved to Forks. And I was only eight back then.

"You're right," Charlotte agreed with a nod, "So, where were Aro and the guys today? Out of town _again_?"

"Yeah," Irina nodded, running her hand through her chin-length silvery blonde hair.

"They're out of town a lot lately, aren't they?" I frowned.

Irina bit her lip, "I know. I asked about it already, but they always have the same answer. Business. And when I ask what business, they snap at me. Fucking annoying."

The three of us shared a grim look. Business and Aro together didn't promise anything good. He knew what he was doing most of the time, but that was business in _Forks_. He knew everybody in the area, but out of town meant unfamiliar people. _Please don't get into trouble, Aro_.

"You have a lighter? I forgot mine," I said as I took the cigarette Irina offered me earlier out of my pocket. "Well, I don't know what Aro's doing and I'm not entirely sure I want to know. I really have no idea who keeps bailing him out of jail."

Irina shrugged, but seemed troubled she didn't know then answer either nonetheless. Irina knew a lot. She knew a lot of guys to fill her in about what was going on, so she always knew everything about everyone. Not knowing something irritated her to the end.

"Whatever," she mumbled once again, tossing me her lighter.

"Let's go," Charlotte said, looking up at the sky. "It's getting dark outside."

"Oooooh, and we don't want to be approached by the dark crowd that's lurking around here, huh?" Irina grinned. I giggled with her.

Lightening my cigarette, my eyes caught her lighter, "Dirty girl!" I said, laughing loudly.

Irina giggled, smiling innocently.

"Figures," Charlotte smiled, rolling her eyes.

"I need a hot guy – never mind, a guy – around me 24/7, okay?"

At times like these, they weren't so bad.

**AN: You noticed I like using as many characters as possible? **


	4. Jasper Whitlock Says…

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything **

Chapter 4 – Jasper Whitlock Says…

_Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. BEEEEEEEP__! _With my eyes still closed, my arms blindly searched the snooze button of my alarm clock. The loud _boom! _that followed was what actually made me open my eyes, just to see my poor alarm clock laying on the floor. Yeah, even I was surprised that thing wasn't dead yet. I just lay there for a minute, curled up and staring at my alarm clock, that was now blaring out some Bon Jovi song I couldn't recognize in my sleepy state.

Finally deciding I really had go to school, I threw away my sheets and stood up. With one eye closed I looked at the familiar brown-haired girl, clad in a simple tight-fitting tank top and an old pair of Snoopy pyjama pants, looking back at me in the mirror. I yawned, not bothering to put my hand in front of my mouth. Who was looking anyway?

After grabbing a towel and a pair of underwear, I stumbled to the bathroom. I heard Phil's snoring as I passed his and Mom's room, which meant he didn't have to work today.

A quick shower was enough to wake me up. _The wonders of a good douche. _Too bad the stress returned as soon as I looked at my alarm clock, which was still laying on the floor. _7:26_, the angry, red digits screamed at me. _Shiiiiiit_. It's not that I minded being late or something. I was tardy a lot. But I'd promised Rose I'd be there today to meet her cousin.

Oh fuck.

"Gotta go, can't eat!" I yelled at Mom as I hurriedly scrambled down the stairs and raced to my old '53 Chevy pick-up. I started the engine and with a loud rumble, left. _Rose will understand_, I told myself.

As you could guess, the parking lot was empty.

"Sorry, Mr Mason," I apologized, shooting my least favorite teacher a convincing smile as I walked into the room. "Traffic was awful."

The class grinned – traffic in Forks. Right.

"Yeah, yeah, Miss Swan," Mr Mason said, apparently not finding it as funny as my classmates and giving me a stern look, "Go sit down, but don't let me hear from you again."

At moments like this my interest in books seemed to pay off. English was my best class and Mr Mason knew I was one of his best students. He loved it when I'd make comment on a Jane Austen novel. Some of the girls in my year didn't even know what half the book meant. _Lamentation? Tincture? __Exuberance? Profligate?__ And why does she call a woman handsome? _Not that you could really blame them. I couldn't help but use the dictionary too when I read _Pride and Prejudice _for the very first time.

I walked to my usual seat next to Edward, who gave me a smirk as I flopped down next to him. At times like this I seriously hated sharing so many classes with Edward.

"What?" I asked, under my breath.

"Rosalie's aaaaangry," he said in an odd sing-song voice.

"I'll make it up to her," I said, more to myself than to Edward, "So, how's Rose's cousin?"

Edward's smirk widened. _Oh, no. That can't be good_. "He's certainly not what everybody expected."

"You mean an Abercrombie and Fitch-wearing snob?" I asked, one eyebrow raised. Exactly what Charlotte said.

"Exactly," he confirmed with a nod, "I'll let you see for yourself. Now, why were you late? Did you harass that poor alarm clock again? That excuse was really lame, by the way."

I snorted, "Mason thought so too, apparently. Maybe you _are _family."

"My name is Mas_eeee_n," he protested aggravated, "His is Mas_oooooo_n."

"But he didn't want to know you're his family, so he changed the 'o' in an 'e', or maybe _he _is the one who changed his name. I understand his point," I grinned impishly, ignoring his scowl, "But tell me about Rose's cousin. And don't give me the 'I'll let you see for yourself'-crap."

"Let's just say… he isn't the seven year old he used to be."

_No, duh. _

"But –"

"Ms Swan, what did I tell you?" Mason's sharp voice interrupted me. _Bastard_. _Really, evil, twisted, malicious_…"Be quiet, don't let me hear anything from you again."

_No.__ Shut up. _"Of course, sir," I replied, smiling sweetly.

"Now, page 176…"

"I hate him," I mumbled to Edward, "I like English, why do we have _Mason_? He ruins everything. Why can't we have Mr Berty? He's cool." Really, Mr Berty was. He's one of those 'cool' teachers – those who crack awesome (sometimes a bit oversexed) jokes. "He's really, really, unbelievably _stupid_. Evil, too. I mean, why does he have to be so – _ugh_."

"Of course," Edward told me dryly, blinking bemusedly, "If you say so."

"Don't look at me like that."

_Like whaaat? _His innocent expression asked me sweetly.

"It makes me feel like you're smarter than me," I explained with a grin. He _was _probably – no, not probably, he just was – smarter than me, but I wasn't going to admit that. Especially not to Edward, who'd rub it in your face all the time. I couldn't help his vocabulary was so damn big.

Edward snorted unbelievably, "Keep telling yourself that."

"Quiet!" I hissed, "Mason's looking, basta – aaaaaand that's why you should read _Hamlet_. Did you know the original title was _The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark_? Really, the book explores some pretty heavy themes…" The bell cut off my incoherent, sort of stupid excuse.

Literally saved by the bell.

"You're so fucking lucky," Edward said with a small smirk as we walked to Government, burying his hands into his jeans pockets, "The look he gave you… I don't think he could get any more red."

"I know," I grinned as we entered building 6, "But c'mon, we don't want another angry teacher, don't we? Jefferson's always grumpy on Thursdays."

"And Fridays," Edward added.

"And Mondays…"

"And Tuesdays…"

"Yeah, and Wednesdays. Let's just go already."

**000**

"I can't believe you," Rosalie said coldly, her unusual violet eyes very cold, "You promised – you _promised _you'd be there! I told Jasper you'd be there." I knew she wasn't so angry because I didn't come. It didn't matter to her. I could always meet Jasper later. But I'd broken a promise and promises were something very important to Rose. Just like they were very important to _me_.

I looked at my best friend in the whole world with big, wide eyes, "Sorry, Rose," I apologized with a guilty glance at my shoes, "I tried… but you know me."

"Yeah," she said crossly, her eyes hard.

"C'mooooon, Rose. I'm sorry, sorry, sorry, _sorry_. Forgive me?"

The ice cold look seemed to melt a bit, "Fine," she said admittedly, "But just because it's you."

"Then I'm very lucky to be me," I beamed, wrapping my arms around her and squeezing her close to me.

"Yeah, yeah," she mumbled, untangling herself, but she had a smile on her face, "Let's go, Jasper's waiting for us. I told him he could sit with us."

"There you are," Alice's voice greeted us, "I saw your brother, Rose. Jasper Whitlock is –"

"Don't you dare to say hot, delicious, yummy, smoking, fine, handsome, adorable, mouth-watering, heavenly, tasty or good-looking, okay?" Rose cut her off, annoyed.

"…I was going to say nice, but what you said is also alright," Alice said with a cheeky grin, slipping her around our shoulders and escorting us to the cafeteria.

There were a very few things I hated. Hate was a big word, Daddy – not Charlie – taught me when I was a young girl, and that just stuck with me. _Hating something or someone is loving one less_, he used to tell me wisely. But I hated, truly hated, a few things in life. One of those things were fluorescent lights.

Esme, Edward, Maria, Emmett, Tanya, Kate and an unknown boy who _had _to be Jasper Whitlock were sitting at our usual table (same table, but different people almost everyday. Some ditched class once in a while, others decided they needed some physical contact… but that's besides the point). It wasn't hard to say the unknown boy was Jasper Whitlock – he was, just like Rose, tall, blond and very, _very _hot.

The description 'handsome' didn't seem to do justice as he shot us – or Rose, whatever – a crooked grin that, in my opinion, could rival Edward's.

Everyone mumbled a hello, but one seemed to stand out the most.

"Hello there, ladies," Boy-Who-Just-Had-To-Be-Jasper drawled charmingly as we sat down. Rosalie next to him, me next to Rosalie. He looked straight at me and the first thing I noticed were his eyes. They were like the sea. Not the Caribbean sea, or the Red Sea, but truly like the waters of La Push – stormy, grayish-blue and changing with every movement he made. Sounds cliché, I know. "You must be Bella Swan."

Southern twang? _Daaaaaaamn_. Damn. Damn. Damn!

Jasper Whitlock just said hi.

**AN: Aaaaaaaaand Jasper entered the picture. Sorry it took me so long to update… homework's killing me. I hate homework. ****But who doesn't? **

**Please t****ell me what you think! **

**Dory**


	5. Suspicions and Roman Perverts

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything **

Chapter 5 – Suspicions and Roman Perverts

"That would be me," I agreed lightly, nodding at him and offering a delicate smile. Thank God I'm sitting – my knees would've given out. "And you're Jasper Whitlock, I heard so much about you."

Jasper grinned, "Likewise."

"I hope Rose didn't fill you in on all the gory details," I said with, shooting a playful scowl at Rose.

"Afraid so – Rose," he greeted his cousin, tilting his head the tiniest bit and sliding his arm over the back of her chair. She smiled at him – and I mean really (and very genuinely, I might add) smiled.

"Told you he's nothing like everyone expected," Edward said to me, under his breath.

_What do you mean? _I wanted to say, but I stifled those words as soon as I took a _good _look at Jasper and I understood exactly what Edward meant. Jasper was the exact opposite of a Abercrombie and Fitch-wearing snob. The exact opposite of Rosalie, I realized startled. Jasper was one of _those_ boys. Parents' Worst Nightmare, leather jacket-wearing devil, some may say. But he was a hot leather jacket-wearing devil, my mind decided.

He was charismatic, I could tell, just by seeing him interact with the other people on our table. He gave Kate, Maria and Tanya the attention they needed and flirted back slightly, laughed with Emmett, made shy and quiet Esme feel at ease and joked back and forth with Alice. Honestly, I frowned a bit a the sight. He was like a puzzle piece, completing the puzzle and connecting everyone with everyone, but something wasn't right, as if the puzzle piece was from another puzzle and didn't fit quite right. I just didn't know what it was yet. Keyword: yet.

"You could've just said that," I told Edward gently. He had to scoot his chair a little bit closer to mine to hear me clearly. The cafeteria was noisier than ever and seemed somehow much more crowded than usual, even though there was just one student more. Perhaps it was because of the buzzing that seemed to zoom 'Jasper' every minute and the crowd around our table was bigger than it usually was.

Edward smiled at my wandering eyes, "It would ruin the surprise," he said softly. His eyes left mine and he glanced at Kate, Maria and Tanya, who were openly ogling at the new meat that just arrived, forgetting Edward for a few seconds, before looking back again. _Edward really has beautiful eyes_, I thought absently. I knitted my eyebrows as I thought about my own eyes – nothing special. Just brown. "You want to go already? I want to talk to you."

"Jasper will think we're rude," I murmured, but considering the idea.

Edward looked a tad annoyed, "So what? Let's just go, you can talk to him later. You don't want to look like one of those three, right?" He pointed a thumb at the three flirtatious girls at the other end of the table.

I gave him a look and turned to Rose, "We're going, alright? I'll see you later."

"What?" Rosalie said crossly, turning her head slightly, "You didn't even talk to Jasper yet. Bella…"

"I'll talk to him later, okay?" I eyed her cousin and smiled at him.

"Fine," Rose huffed, not giving Jasper a chance to speak, "I'll see you later."

I giggled, planting a kiss on her cheek, "I'll make it up to you, Rose. Promise."

"You better," she mumbled, still not looking completely satisfied. She gave Edward her Evil Glare of Doom, sneering at him. "Have fun with Masen."

"Don't worry. We'll have _plenty_ of fun," Edward said with forced politeness, clenching his hands angrily, but not doing anything. He was Edward Masen after all.

"Edward," I hissed, "Let's just go already."

"That you'd really choose her over me," he muttered, completely un-Edward-like, as we walked away.

"You know I do," I said boldly and quite coldly. I wasn't going to lie to him or anything. If Rose was hanging on the edge of a cliff and Edward was on the other side, I'd choose Rose over him without a second thought. Period. "Now, what did you want to talk about?"

He grabbed my arm and marched me through the corridors, "Not here. We're going to ditch Biology."

I promptly freed myself from his grasp, "Fine, but I can walk for myself, thank you."

"So damn stubborn," he said with a disapproving glance.

"You're sooooooo rich, Edward, why the hell do you still have that… thing?" I asked as his Volvo S60R came into view.

"Says the girl who owns a piece of crap that doesn't run past 30 miles per hour."

"Don't you dare to insult my truck," I defended, pointing a finger at him.

"I'm surprised you didn't name it yet," Edward said, smiling brightly as we entered the… car. It wasn't outrageously ugly or something, but you'd think he'd buy something a lot better than a fucking _Volvo _when you're so filthy rich.

"What do you suggest?"

"Berta?" he offered with a small smirk.

"Do you _any _spark of creativity in that head of yours?"

"Lots of sparks," he said in all seriousness, but his eyes were laughing.

An oppressive silence stretched between us for a few minutes and I looked out of the window awkwardly, not knowing exactly what to do. _Yeah, hello, he was the one that wanted to talk_.

"So," I began, not removing my eyes from the trees and houses rushing by, "You wanted to talk?"

"Hmmhmm," he hummed with a nod, not saying anything.

"Well?" I pressed, impatience coloring my voice.

He ran his hand through his wild auburn hair, his expression serious. I didn't like Edward serious, to be honest. It was sort of creepy – Edward was the flirty, arrogant guy with a smirk on his face the whole time, but fucking funny too. He was just _Edward_ and I did share this strange, unlikely friendship with him.

"What do you seriously think about Whitlock?" he asked finally.

_Whitlock already? Not Jasper? _Not that I expected him to say Jazzy My Best Friend For Life, but this was very soon. "How do I know? I only said hi to him."

A trace of his trademark smirk crossed his face, "Yeah, maybe I was thinking he would share all his deepest, darkest secrets with you," he grinned, being the Edward I knew again, before the grin disappeared again, "I don't know, Bella, he just didn't give off a good vibe…"

"Really, Edward? He's dressed like James Dean or Steve McQueen or some shit. Of course he doesn't give off a 'good vibe'. Don't make such big deal about it. It's just Rose's cousin coming to Forks and nothing more."

Edward lowered his eyes – _keep your eyes on the road, idiot! _– and sighed, "You're dressed like that, too," he concluded, nodding at my beloved jacket.

I mock gasped, "Not! I actually have fashion sense."

He laughed, and I mean really, really laughed and I knew the old Edward was back again, "No you don't. You're dressed like a hobo most of the time. You should hear Alice talk about your style. She wants to burn your closet."

"It's called waif-like European," I disagreed, "Like from Paris, loose but fashionable."

"Of course," Edward said, nodding earnestly, like I was a five year old.

"You just don't know how to appreciate it," I decided, folding my arms across my chest. It was true though – Alice was an amazing girl and her fashion sense was great, but very limited and above all, expensive. I was just happy with my jeans shorts, oversized sunglasses, simple sneakers, the too big blouses that somehow fitted just right and, of course, my leather jacket. "As if _your _sense of style is so great."

"What?" he exclaimed indignantly, "My sense of style excellent, thank you. And even if I _hadn't _such a outstanding fashion sense, I'd still look as pulchritudinous as I do now."

"Pulchri-what?" I said, confused.

"The pros of Latin class," he informed me, "You don't _know _how much Latin influenced the English language. Sixty percent, actually."

Oh, right, Edward had been following Latin classes. One of the very few classes he didn't share with me. That's why Spanish was always so quiet (not counting Jessica Stanley's rapid rambling in front of me).

"And the cons?"

"The teacher is reprehensible," he said dolefully, "Even more than Mason."

"Impossible," I chirped, my face darkening at the thought of Mason, "And stop with the big words."

"Reprehensible, from reprehendere, meaning rebuke –"

"Very interesting," I cut him off, flashing him a bright smile, though strongly tempted to tell him to shut the fuck up, "But stop, please."

"Because you asked so nicely," Edward said easily, airily waving his hand – _keep that hand on the steering wheel, you asshole. You really want us to die, don't you? _"I was just trying to teach you something. Maybe you should also take Latin. You know a lot of sexual terms come from Latin? They were some perverted guys back then. You know _vagina _actually means 'scabbard'?"

"That's sort of overly perverted, yes. But I'm not taking Latin – I heard about the nominative, accusative, genitive crap."

"Just remember the sexual –"

"I said nooooooooo."

"Okay then, your loss."

**AN: There are going to be more Latin references, okay? It's**** one of my best subjects. And please review guys. I'd love to hear what you think! **

**Dory **


	6. Party at Maria's Tonight

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything **

Chapter 7 – Party at Maria's Tonight

"You look great," I praised Rose as she posed in front of the Tuscan style-framed, full-length mirror, admiring herself and the short, black dress she wore. She really did look great. The dress clung to the curves of her tall, hourglass-like body all the right places and she knew it. The glossy blonde curls that flowed around her face seemed to be untouched and natural, shining and her lips were looking very red – really dark red, a color everybody associated with Rosalie Hale.

"I know," she nodded, not sounding arrogant, her tone not matching her words at all. She twirled around, facing me, "You too."

I smiled – being the only person on the whole world Rose would ever compliment sort of boosted your self-esteem. And when you feel good, you look better too. "Thanks – now, move aside." I playfully pushed her away from the mirror, eyeing my appearance.

She looked at me, mock annoyed, "Did I just tell you you good? I take that back. Your ass looks so big in that skirt, it's seriously fascinating. Has it always been that fat?"

"Yes. And did I really tell you you looked great? When I saw you wearing that gorgeous dress, I felt sorry – for the dress, that is."

We laughed and looked at our reflection in the mirror – our eyes lined with thick black, lips bright red, lashes unnecessarily long, skin flawless and cheekbones pronounced. I was wearing a outfit Rose had picked for me. A little-bit-too-tight-fitting white tuxedo shirt tucked in a dark blue pleated miniskirt and my hair all waves and curls, as usual.

"Your cousin's riding with us to Maria's?" I asked her, fingering the end of my sleeve.

She shook her head, reapplying her lipstick. Again. _Well, it's lipstick. That's okay. Lipgloss. Now _that_'s baaaaaaaad for your lips, children _(Mary Alice Brandon, Christmas Eve 2007)."No, he's already there." She scowled, "Seems like Emmett and him hit off pretty well. They went together."

"Ooh, like a date?" I grinned, flinging myself onto her king-size bed. _Hmmmm_… _I loooooooove Rose's bed. Why can't _I_ have a bed like that? So unfair. _

"Very funny," she said, her tone indicating the opposite. She sat next to me, a lot more gracefully than I'd done, and began playing with the collection of anklets jingling around my ankle. I loved anklets – I had thousands of them and there were always at least seven tinkling around my ankles. "He's just been here for one day. He could at least _wait_."

"Don't blame him. He's a boy," was my simple explanation.

She glanced at me disapprovingly, "You're so tactless."

"Well, you're a bitch."

"And proud of it – let's go, it's 9 o'clock. And no, we can't take the truck," she answered my unasked question as soon as she saw me open my mouth.

I scowled darkly at her, "You're so unfair, Rose."

"You really think I'm going to show up at a party in that thing? _Please_, I'd rather jump off a cliff than having to suffer that humiliation," she informed me disdainfully.

"I thought you'd do everything for me?" I queried with a grin. I was actually being quite serious, but I knew Rose hated those serious, important conversations you'd later remember and talk about. That's probably why so many didn't know how to treat Rose – she wasn't the facetious person who cracked hilarious jokes, or a wise person who loved long, earnest conversations all day, or the shy type who mostly kept quiet, or your stereotype bitch, the Queen Bee, like Lauren Mallory (whom was on top of our hate list. Just above fluorescent lights. And really, I didn't hate a lot of things in life. As Daddy said, hating something or someone is loving one less. But Lauren Mallory… _uuuuuuugh_. She was – was… well, there weren't really a lot of words to describe how much I hated Lauren Mallory).

"I would," Rose agreed firmly as we descended the spiral staircase, "But not when it involves that thing you dare to call a _truck_." Yeah, Rose was more a fan of sports cars.

_What's it with everybody being so mean to my truck? It didn't do anything to you! _I sighed exaggerated, rolling my eyes. "Thanks. Wait – is that your mom?" I asked a tad incredulous when I saw Mrs Hale's dark blonde head sticking out from behind the crème leather loveseat.

"Oh, yeah…" Rose scowled, grabbing my hand and dragging me with her, "You're not wearing the leather jacket thing, okay? Here, wear this." She pushed a fashionable gray-colored trench coat in my hands, trying to change the subject. She hated talking about her parents. "You look hot. All the boys will _love _you, Bell."

"Says you," I grinned, receiving a smile in return. Rose loved compliments. "Well, let's go! Paaaaaaaarty!"

Arms wrapped around each other's shoulders and waists, we half-stumbled to Rose's fiery-red M3, laughing happily. I felt extremely careless at the moment and I was up for everything. God, what would happen after the shots?

The drive, filled with laughing, gossiping and pathetically singing along with the loud songs on the radio, didn't last very long. Maria's house wasn't really faraway from Rose's.

Maria's house was a mess – lights were flickering off and on, loud music and I could feel the vibrations tickling my feet. I looked at Rose with a big grin on my face, which she returned, throwing an arm around my shoulders. The moment we entered the teen-filled house people greeted us, cheering, smiling, waving and nodding. A girl, Victoria, was yelling something in my ear, but I couldn't hear her because of the pounding music that was almost hurting my ears.

I observed the party a bit, watching some people talking and just looking at how everyone else was dancing – _have some fun people, dance! _–, boys and girls making out and grinding against each other, some taking shots at the bar Maria used to brag about ("Soooo, we have this bar now, it's _so _cool, especially after you find out where Mom and Dad hide the good stuff, if you know what I mean…") and the rest dancing to the beat of the music.

_Hmm, seems like Maria knows how to throw a party_.

"Come dancing," Rose mouthed to me, leading me to what must have been the dance floor – people were dancing everywhere, it was a bit hard to say what the dance floor was. I moved my body with the rhythm of the music, laughing joyfully as Rose and I threw our hands up.

"Shots!" I yelled in Rose's ear. She looked at me questionably, perfectly-arched eyebrows raised. She hadn't heard me. "Shots!"

She looked at me, nodding understandingly and grabbing my hand tightly. It was quite easy to lose each other in the enormous sea of people. _Holy shit, who did Maria really invite? _The people sitting and fooling around at the bar made place for us as soon us we approached, greeting us brightly, squinting from all the alcohol.

"Hi there, ladies!" Tyler Crowley greeted us from behind the bar. We ignored him, more interested in the shot glasses he'd poured in for us. I drank everything down, feeling the alcohol burn in my throat, but it was a nice burn. My first time drinking had been Gin (Irina and I had stolen it from her dad. The same night I spewed my guts out) and that for your first time, completely sober, really hurt like a bitch.

"I'm going to dance again!" Rose screamed in my ear after a few shots, eyeing Emmett, who just entered the living room and was being greeted with clamorous cheering, "You're coming with me?"

"No," I mouthed, shaking my head vehemently – _ooooooooh, pretty colors_, "See you later."

After planting a kiss on my cheek, she strutted her way towards Emmett. I was impressed, she was still walking in a straight line. And I couldn't even do that sober. Now _that_'s unfair, I thought sourly.

"Give me another one," I demanded Crowley for the sixth – or seventh… maybe eighth? I didn't remember, really – time.

I turned my back to the bar, watching what everyone was doing once again. I saw Emmett and Rose, dancing closely and grinding against each other like the horny teenagers they were – maybe I wouldn't see her later at all –, Edward casually talking with Maria, Kate, James and Laurent, two guys he and Emmett sometimes hung out with – they were probably the people who took care of the alcohol too. Not everything could be from Maria's rich mommy and daddy – and Tanya being sandwiched by two guys – Riley and Garrett, from what it looked like.

"We haven't talked yet," a smooth, drawling voice interrupted my observations.

I looked up to see Jasper, a content expression on his face. Was he just as drunk as I was? I noticed that when he smiled at me, a dimple, just one, would appear at the left corner of his mouth. "We haven't," I agreed, smiling like a drunk idiot. Oh, wait – I was.

Jasper looked at me, looking extremely amused at my state. _I knooooow, I'm funny to laugh at. _"You're drunk," he stated, somewhat unnecessarily, leaning forward to hear me better.

"Noooooooo," I mocked. _Ugh, have some _class _goddammit, idiot! _

He smiled a bit again, more to himself than to me, and my eyes flew to the dimple again. It was awfully interesting. The dimple, I mean. Not in the way you just can't stop gaping at the gigantic wart on your aunt's nose, but in the way you can't stop staring at the hair of someone who has natural Shirley Temple-curls.

"You're funny," he stated, not smiling at all and his voice not suggesting he even thought I was funny. Something he and Rose shared, I noticed. Saying words that don't match the tone of their voice at all.

I raised an eyebrow and looked in his eyes – stormy blue eyes I couldn't really decipher in the flashing lights.

Blue eyes, orange eyes, pink eyes, yellow eyes and blue again. And look, now they're green!

"Where did you move from again?" I required, frowning slightly and rubbing my eyes. Everything was so haaaaaaazy.

"Houston, Texas," he answered, looking amused again and watching me through his orange – green… purple (?)… pink – eyes. What was it with this guy and being amused? Rose wasn't amused all the time either. Why would her cousin be?

"Texas," I breathed, sounding very stupid, "Texas. Do you want to dance, Texas?"

He looked pensive for a moment, but finally agreed with a "fine", looping his arm around my shoulder and leading me to the wannabe-dance floor. I took a breath, sniffing a smell I was going to call 'Jasper No. 1, by Jasper Whitlock'.

_Can I buy that somewhere, you think? _

I would spread it over the whole world.

**AN: Heheee. Portraying drunk people's fun! **

**Please review! **

**Dory **


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